The Student Dust Counter Onboard the New Horizons Mission to Pluto…and Beyond!

The Student Dust Counter (SDC) onboard the New Horizons mission to Pluto is the only student-built instrument flying in deep space. SDC studies the dust that strikes the spacecraft during its journey across the Solar System. These observations will advance our understanding of the origin and evolution of our own Solar System, and of planet formation in dust disks around other stars. After its Pluto-Charon fly-by in 2015, SDC will continue to measure dust in the Kuiper Belt. This talk will review the SDC instrument and its most recent data.